Excession (2)   by Iain M. Banks

Second reading. First time I was awed by the way the book transcends scale in time and space. Now I realize that the book really is about the different scales, as typified by the ending given by the Excession itself, that it appeared momentarily in a part of normal space and caused a small disturbance in the local population there; that ‘disturbance’ amounting to an inter-civilizational war engaged by sentient ships colossal enough to be the founding yard of 80,000 gigantic warships each. And within the smaller ships held within bigger shipsʼ bays, billions-strong populations of humans thrive. And within the humanity, this book tells tales of three or four lives which become intertwined (as well as some drones, avatars and ship minds and a sentient blackbird), and are affected indirectly by the appearance of the Excession.

I regarded this book as the best Iʼve read, and that conviction is now upheld. It is not perfect: there are a couple too many characters to keep track of, and there are some unnecessary passages of text which need traipsing through, making the book just a little too big for its own good. But nothing comes close to the science-fictional ideas the book brings: it is amazing.